Hotel reaches full height

01 Feb 2017

The hotel being built adjacent to Alliance Manchester Business School has now reached its full height

The landmark 19-storey hotel building which will feature a dual branded 328-room hotel, with meeting facilities, forms part of the University’s £1billion masterplan to transform the campus.

Members of The University of Manchester and Alliance Manchester Business School, M&L Hospitality, Bruntwood, Intercontinental Hotels Group and Cycas Hospitality gathered last week to celebrate the ‘Topping out’ of the mixed-use development.

Designed by architects BDP and Leach Rhodes Walker, the development will introduce two new hotels for the city; a 212-room Crowne Plaza and 116-room Staybridge Suites.  Both hotels will operate under a franchise agreement with owner partner M&L Hospitality and Cycas Hospitality, the hotel management company specialising in extended-stay hotels in the UK and Europe.

Professor Fiona Devine, Head of Alliance Manchester Business School said, “This is a major milestone for this landmark development and we look forward to offering a flexible choice of accommodation for visitors to the University, the business school and the wider city.”

Neil Maxwell, CEO of M&L Hospitality said, “Manchester is maturing as an international destination for corporate businesses. There has been a growing number of investments made by foreign firms over the past five years and recent talks by Manchester International Airport to introduce new airline routes to the city. We are confident that our new development will cater to the growing number of corporate business travellers and their demands for quality accommodation.”

Chris Roberts, Bruntwood Development Director said, “We are delighted to see the hotel reach this milestone. When complete, the hotel and education centre will provide the perfect base from which to enjoy the abundance of quality cultural assets along Oxford Road and further cement 'Corridor Manchester' as a place where talented people can come to learn, socialise and re-energise.”

The project, scheduled for overall completion early next year is being undertaken by Bruntwood Construction as part of Bruntwood’s wider redevelopment of Alliance MBS for The University of Manchester on Booth Street West and will adjoin its new two-storey Executive Education Centre, providing a new home for the School’s corporate leadership and management programmes.

Pictured from left to right are:

• Ingrid van Veen - Regional Manager - Cycas Hospitality
• Kiat Chiang Goh - Financial Controller - M&L Hospitality
• Professor Fiona Devine - Head of Alliance Manchester Business School – The University of Manchester
• Neil Maxwell - Chief Executive Officer - M&L Investments
• Diana Hampson - Director of Estates and Facilities – The University of Manchester 
• Robert Shepherd - Chief Development Officer, Europe - InterContinental Hotels Group